This morning I visited Koga town in Fukuoka Prefecture with a friend from the Netherlands to search for breeding Grey-headed Lapwing and Painted Snipe. Luckily we could find both within a short period of time, both species showing very well, particularly the snipe.
Author: John Wright
John Wright is an Australian wildlife photographer and bird guide based in Kyushu, Japan. John became seriously engaged in nature photography while living in Japan and then Thailand. He returned to Japan in 2008 and has since concentrated on wildlife photography, especially birds. John visits Southeast Asia and Australia regularly, but usually travels within the Japanese archipelago, where he also guides visiting birders and wildlife photography enthusiasts.
Bird Tour Report
From May 20 to 23 I was busy taking a birder from the United Kingdom to spots around Nagasaki and Saga Prefectures. The birding was a little quiet, but we managed to observe 88 species. Highlights included Copper Pheasant, Japanese Green Pheasant, Narcissus Flycatcher, Japanese Paradise Flycatcher, Blue-and-White Flycatcher, Ijima’s Leaf Warbler, Japanese Bush Warbler, […]
Birding in Japan – Yellow-browed Bunting (Emberiza chrysophrys)
Spring migration has been underway here in the southern part of Japan since mid-March and we have seen quite a few rarities making landfall briefly as the wintering birds make their way northwards toward their breeding grounds in northern China and the Russian Far East. Many birds travel between the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese […]
Hooded Crane | Grus monacha
It’s the beginning of spring, and the first of Japan’s wintering species are beginning the long journey back to their breeding grounds in the Russian Far East. I am talking about the vulnerable Hooded Crane (Grus monacha), which together with smaller numbers of White-naped Crane (Grus vipio), are now passing over my part of Japan […]
Wintering Cranes at Arasaki
Perhaps the most important winter refuge for Hooded and White-naped Cranes in the world is the famous Arasaki area in Izumi city, Kagoshima, Japan. From late November each year, thousands of these magnificent birds migrate to this spot on the southwestern coast of Kyushu, and by the end of December most of the more than […]
Isahaya Bay in Winter
I always feel very fortunate to live in an area of Japan that is surrounded by some of the best winter birding locations in the country and, indeed, in all of East Asia. From my home in Shimabara, Nagasaki, it is just a short ferry ride and drive to Hikawa and Yatsushiro in Kumamoto, while […]